China Opens Its Major Archaeological Sites to the Public, From Zhengzhou's Neolithic Village to Luoyang's Ancient Capitals

At the Dahecun National Archaeological Site Park in Zhengzhou, in Henan province, autumn wind moves through the reeds and deer call across a landscape of nearly 160 hectares. Within the park stands the new Dahecun Site Museum, built mostly underground. Visitors enter by a sloping path that leads down into the story of a Neolithic settlement about 7,000 years old.

The museum's rectangular roof sits level with the ground. Wang Xiaoya, a guide there, described it as letting the building blend into the landscape, like a site emerging from the soil. She called it the country's first thematic museum to present the Yangshao culture in panoramic form. Inside are more than 1,500 cultural relics that illustrate that culture and the history of the site. Outside, in the core protection zone, the remains of a large Yangshao-period settlement are on display. The Yangshao culture lasted about 2,000 years, and Dahecun is one of its important windows.

Dahecun belongs to a category Chinese heritage officials call "dayizhi," or major archaeological sites. The term covers the remains of large ancient settlements, cities, palaces and tombs, along with related groups of sites and cultural landscapes. What sets them apart is their scale, their historical and cultural significance and their far-reaching influence. The list includes Liangzhu in Zhejiang, the Yinxu Ruins in Henan, Sanxingdui in Sichuan, the Old Summer Palace ruins in Beijing, the Xixia Imperial Tombs and the Great Wall. Together they are cited as evidence of a million years of human history in China, 10,000 years of cultural history and a civilization more than 5,000 years old.

China now counts 150 such sites. Sixty-five national archaeological site parks have been built around some of them, taking in the surrounding areas.

Luoyang, a Henan city with 4,000 years of urban history and more than 1,500 years as a capital, shows how closely these sites can sit alongside modern life. Zhao Xiaojun, head of the Luoyang municipal cultural heritage bureau, noted that several major sites lie along the Luo River within an east-west stretch of under 50 kilometers: Erlitou, the Yanshi Shang Dynasty Capital Ruins, the Han-Wei Luoyang Ancient City site, the Sui-Tang Luoyang City site and the Mangshan tombs. He said the density, scale, time span and richness of the history are rare in the world.

The city's approach goes back to the 1950s, when Luoyang built its new urban area away from the old city and required archaeological excavation before construction began. Authorities have since adopted site-specific protection regulations. The Sui-Tang Luoyang City site, the Han-Wei Luoyang Ancient City site and Erlitou have each become national archaeological site parks.

Visitors are turning out in growing numbers. Visits to national archaeological site parks climbed from 20.97 million in 2021 to 97.74 million in 2025, for a five-year total of 303 million.

The effects reach past research and exhibitions. In Zhejiang, linking Liangzhu culture with rural vitalization has supported local development: in 2025, the operating income of village collectives in 14 villages within the site area rose 19 percent year-on-year. At the Liulihe site in Beijing, a China-United States international field archaeology summer school gives young people from around the world a way to learn about Chinese civilization.

The 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-30) for national cultural heritage calls for systematic protection and use of such sites. A recent national conference on the work stressed high-level research, sustainable protection, efficient management and high-quality presentation. For sites in city centers, small exhibition spaces will be woven into the urban fabric. Suburban and rural sites may pair rural revitalization with educational field trips and study programs. Officials also aim to improve cultural services at the sites to better meet public needs.